Finding everything you need
Finding the right information to answer your assignments can make the difference between success and failure, and finding what you need quickly and efficiently can save you time and avoidable stress. The best place to start any search for academic information is the Library website, where we have brought together all the best sources of quality academic information for your subject. Here’s a quick guide to your Library subject page and other places to get started finding the best information available.
Finding articles, images, and more
One of the biggest problems many people face is finding the right information they need to answer their assignments. The Library subscribes to vast quantities of relevant, high quality, academic sources for you to use in your assignments along with up to date legal, statistical, news, company and market information resources, image and video databases and more.
Your subject page – everything in one place
You can find many of the best resources for your subject on your Subject page. Click Subjects on the Library website and find your subject (or a similar subject – you’re not limited to any one page) from the menu that appears. On your subject page, click on the blue boxes to reveal different sections of the page.
Finding books and journal articles
Click the big blue “Click to search Library resources” button on the Library website to find our Search page.
Discovery Service
The first search box on this page is the EBSCO Discovery Service search box – use this to find peer reviewed (high quality) academic journal articles and “Research starters”, which are reliable encyclopedia articles introducing new topics and helping you identify the search terms to find journal articles on a topic. This video introduces the Discovery Service:
There are many specialist databases that look similar to the Discovery Service but offer more sophisticated tools for finding articles within your subject area. You can find all these listed on your Subject page. Chat with a librarian in person (11am – 3pm Monday-Friday) or chat online (24/7) for advice on which resources are best for your specific needs for any assignment.
Library catalogue
Use the Library catalogue search (next on this page) to find books – print and electronic. This video shows you how:
Finding printed books need not be confusing. Click on the printed book locations page link below the catalogue search box to find an expandable series of guides showing where in the Library to find your book on the shelves. You can also ask us to fetch your book and leave it for you to collect from the Atrium using our Click & Collect service or ask us to post books to you (all for free).
Website search
You can search the Library website from this page as well, so if there is anything you want to learn about but cannot find, you can search for it here. Still can’t find what you want? Chat to a librarian online 24/7 or ask at the Library Help Desk.
Coming up tomorrow
In my next post, I’ll be exploring all the ways Library staff can help you find articles, images, market data, legal materials and more, help you identify reliable information sources, and improve your referencing.
Assistant Librarian (Promotions) at the University Library. An enthusiastic advocate of libraries, diversity, inclusion, equity, and social justice for all, inside and outside the workplace.
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